The 20th edition of Croisements Festival, one of the key events for China-France artistic exchanges, kicked off in Beijing on Friday.
At the opening ceremony held at the French Embassy in Beijing, French Ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary emphasized the important role of the event in promoting cultural dialogue.
"Twenty years after its founding, we are pleased and proud to say that Croisements continues to build bridges between cultures, foster artistic dialogue between France and China, and provide a space for artists and audiences from both countries to meet and create," said the ambassador.
Chinese actress Xin Zhilei, winner of the Best Actress award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, was invited to serve as the ambassador for this year's festival.
She hailed the Croisements Festival as a true bridge between the two rich and unique cultures.
"Culture is universal, and so are good stories and genuine emotions. As a promotional ambassador, I truly hope to serve as a bridge, and foster exchanges and mutual understanding between Chinese and French cultures. I hope the French people will come to better understand our culture," Xin told reporters.
The 2026 program stands out for its exceptional richness and diversity. On the musical front, several prestigious orchestras -- including the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France -- will perform in China, offering audiences a deep immersion into the European symphonic repertoire. In the visual arts, contemporary French and international artists will showcase their works alongside major French institutions such as the Manufactures nationales.
The festival will take place in 44 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, with events open to the public from April through July.
20th anniversary of Sino-French cultural feast celebrated in Beijing
Israel's influence on the Trump administration outsizes the already significant sway it held over previous presidencies, contributing to miscalculations that ultimately led to strikes on Iran and putting the temporary ceasefire at risk, said a U.S. expert.
After about 40 days of deadly clashes, the United States and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, with Israel supporting the truce. However, the truce remains deeply fragile, especially as Israel continues to attack Lebanon, which Iran has called a violation of the ceasefire and threatened a strong response if it continues.
However, the power of the Israel lobby in the United States, especially over the Trump Administration, may weaken its ability to rein in Israeli military action, said Anton Fedyashin, an associate professor at American University.
"The Trump administration has no one but itself to blame. Although it is acting in a very important context, which is the general, enormous influence of the Israeli government over all American administrations, except that under Trump, this influence of course is greater than ever before. Israel has a very powerful lobby in the United States. This is absolutely no secret; not only articles, but very good books have been written about this," he said in an interview with China Global Television Network.
Fedyashin said this influence, combined with poor intelligence, contributed to what he described as a misjudgment that Iran's government would easily fall.
"The problem is that while previous presidents have managed to somehow resist that lobby, Donald Trump seems to have completely fallen for Benjamin Netanyahu's case to convince him that the attack on Iran will be lightning fast, will achieve results very quickly. And this becomes a very important question about the quality of Mossad information, because along with Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House meeting, which happened on February 11, at least according to New York Times, was the head of the Israeli Mossad, and both Netanyahu and the head of Mossad were convincing Trump that Iran's government is on its last legs, that all it needs is a slight push, and that was a catastrophic misjudgment," he said.
US influence over Israel limited as attacks on Lebanon threaten to shatter ceasefire: expert
